Critical Reflection

English lessons had never been what I always look forward to during my secondary school and college days. When I was told that I had to take on this course, I had visions of having to do numerous essays within stipulated time and the pressure left me worried.

My first academic writing I did during this course had many errors in them, with mainly subject verb agreements and sentence structuring. Even if I tried my best, I still could not get my ideas across appropriately. I had always been weak in expressing myself through words and am not able to put my ideas across coherently.

Thinking back, the past few months taking this ES1102 course has been rather beneficial for me. There had only been three main essays to done and was given ample time to complete them. Classes weren’t as boring as I thought it would be. The active participation during lessons from my peers made it even more enriching.

One particular thing in this course that is different from any usual English curriculum is having a peer review system. I was initially a person that feared criticisms. I was afraid of being judged based on my command in English. However, with the many peer evaluations I had on my writings, it had allowed me to be more receptive to criticisms. Also, reading others essay allowed me to broaden my knowledge and be introduced to different styles of writing. Giving peer evaluation made me ask questions like, “Does this sentence make sense? Do I know what the writer is trying to say? Has the writer evaluated and explained the specific idea?” Critically analysing others essay has made me constantly ask such questions while writing my own essay, allowing me to articulate my points more coherently and logically.

With this peer review system, I realized that I am a person that knows exactly how essays should be structured and am able to give positive comments to others. However, I was not able to apply it back to myself. Maybe it was due to a lack in knowledge of the particular topic that made me stuck at every paragraph whenever I write my own essay.

Now with the course coming to an end, it made me realize that ES1102 was not a burden module that I was “forced” to take after all. In fact, I should be glad that I was exposed to this course as I am certain the things learned would help me in my future writing of reports and of course the compulsory module ES1541 I would be taking next semester.  I have learned my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to academic writing. I had a hard time coping with my weaknesses but Laetitia and my peers had helped me a lot along this English Learning Journey. This course has been my most enjoyable module this semester.